


Sick Day

by HeartsInJeopardy



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Bonding over reruns and bad daytime TV, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Fluff, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Sickfic, hand holding, sick day
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-10
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-10-25 20:42:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17732324
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeartsInJeopardy/pseuds/HeartsInJeopardy
Summary: On a quiet day at Mount Justice, Conner and M’gann face their toughest enemy yet: the common cold.





	Sick Day

**Author's Note:**

> This is very, very late but I just started watching the show. Hopefully you all still love these two like I do. This story is set just after the events of season one, during a quiet day on Mount Justice where all is well, except for the health of our favorite Martian.

 “Conner… I don’t think I’m going to make it,” M’gann groaned.

“You’ve survived worse,” Conner called from the kitchen. He set a lid on the pot he was using and turned to check on her.

M’gann sat on the couch in front of the enormous TV in the cave’s living room, hidden entirely under a pile of blankets. Even her red hair was tucked under the hood of the baggy sweatshirt she had formed out of her cape.

Conner heard a loud trumpeting noise as she blew her nose for what could have been the thousandth time today. On the floor beside the couch, Wolf raised his head warily at the noise, then set it down between his paws again.

“At least we learned that human germs really can make Martians sick,” Conner said, leaning on the countertop between the rooms.

That was certainly true. Looking back, M’gann actually felt silly for mistaking her run-in with the Parasite for her first human illness. This cold was much, much worse.

She turned her head to look at Conner over her shoulder. He noticed her skin was a paler shade of green than usual, with dark bags set under her eyes.

“Well, Wally’s germs can,” she said, her voice husky from her sore throat. “If a Petri dish with a bottomless stomach counts as human.”

Conner stifled a laugh. Being sick made M’gann a little cranky, he noted, but it brought out her funny side too.

“He said it went through his system really quickly,” he told her, trying to sound encouraging. “Maybe it will be the same for you.”

“Fingers crossed,” she muttered, turning back to the television.

Conner returned to the stove, taking a sip from the pot of soup he was making. He emerged from the kitchen a few minutes later with two bowls and some crackers on a tray, setting them down on the table in front of M’gann.

“Just what the doctor ordered,” he said with a smile, taking a seat on the couch beside her.

“My hero,” M’gann croaked, picking up one of the bowls. “Where did you learn to make chicken noodle soup from scratch anyway?”

“I don’t know. “ He shrugged. “Some of the memories Cadmus gave me were… a little odd. I think this came from one of them.”  He lifted his spoon to his lips, smiling with obvious satisfaction at the taste, and waited for M’gann to try hers.

M’gann took a spoonful and froze, as if the soup had stung her. She had to restrain herself from spitting it back into her bowl.

It was unexpectedly gritty, salty as seawater, and seasoned with an odd flavor she couldn’t recognize, nothing like the chicken soup she had made from a can several times since arriving on Earth. Conner might have remembered the recipe for something, she decided, but it wasn’t anything edible.

In spite of the foul aftertaste lingering in her mouth, she put on a smile for his sake.

“I love it,” she said, and he grinned back at her.

She didn’t have the heart to tell him what she really thought. It had taken so much time and effort to draw Conner out of his shell since he joined the team. Doing something kind for someone else was a big step for him, even when it was already obvious how much he cared for her.

Keeping her face composed, M’gann altered her taste buds until each spoonful of the awful soup tasted like her memory of the real thing. It wasn’t lying, she decided, just seasoning the soup with her feelings for Conner.

She also made a mental note to lend a hand the next time he offered to cook.

As they ate together, the soap opera M’gann had been watching came back from commercial. A sultry nurse swooned into the arms of a gruff-looking doctor, while their patient flatlined in the background.

“Earth hospitals are not… actually like this, are they?” M’gann asked.

“No,” said Conner. “I mean, I don’t think so.”

“That’s good. They don’t seem to get much work done.”

“ _You_ can hardly judge someone for their office romance.” He raised an eyebrow at M’gann with a cheeky smile, making her giggle.

“Don’t make me laugh,” she scolded, “my throat hurts too much.”

“Oh!” Conner said suddenly, standing up as if he had just remembered something. “I made tea for us too. It should be ready by now.”

“Let me,” M’gann offered. She looked over her shoulder at the countertop, where the two mugs sat waiting. She lifted them carefully with her telekinesis, floating them the short distance to the couch.

Just as she was about to set them down on the table, one of the mugs twirled wildly in the air, splashing the tea inside onto the tray below it. M’gann frowned at the mess.

“I forgot my powers are all wonky from the cold,” she sniffed. Conner was already up and in the kitchen, and returned with paper towels and honey for her tea.

 _He’s even hotter when he’s looking after me_ , M’gann thought while watching him, as the corners of her lips turned up in a small smile. Conner looked towards her suddenly, blushing, and M’gann realized she had broadcast her thoughts without meaning to.

“I guess my telepathy’s gone haywire too,” she mumbled, pulling her blanket up over her face in embarrassment. But Conner laughed happily, putting her at ease again.

“You lie back and get some rest,” he said with authority. “I’ll clean this up.”

“Thank you.”

She reached out to stroke his arm while he was cleaning, but stopped herself just before making contact.

“I guess I shouldn’t make you sick too…” She paused, thinking over what she had just said. “Can _Kryptonians_ catch human germs?”

Conner shook his head. “No way.” He leaned in to give her a peck on the lips, and the smile on his face afterwards made M’gann’s heart flutter. “That’s why you’re stuck with me all day while everyone else is out at school. Or wherever Kaldur is.”

“I think he just jumped into the ocean because he couldn’t stand to be cooped up with us all day,” she said. They both laughed at that, with M’gann breaking into a cough.

With the mess cleaned up, Conner took his seat again and she stretched out against him, her head leaning on his shoulder while the rest of her body was wrapped up in blankets. She began to lift the TV remote with her powers, but it fell back on the table with a loud bang. M’gann groaned in irritation.

“Which channel?” Conner asked, picking the remote up himself.

“235 please,” she said.

As soon as the channel switched, the room filled with the cheery sound of the _Hello, Megan!_ theme song.

“This show again?” he asked.

“I’m sick so you don’t get to pick,” she yawned.

“I already feel like _I’ve_ seen every episode a hundred times,” he grumbled. But he set the remote down and put his feet up on the table.

M’gann’s hand slid out from the pile of blankets, and Conner clasped her fingers in his, brushing his thumb gently over her hand until the soft noise of her snoring began.

*******

“M’gann, please hurry,” Conner called, his voice weak and hoarse.

“Oh shush!” she shouted back from down the hall.

She stepped into the living room carrying a bottle of Sleepquil cough syrup, glaring down at Conner as he lay on the couch under her blankets. He had been sweaty and wan since he woke up from their nap earlier, but M’gann wasn’t feeling much better. And suddenly Conner expected _her_ to play nurse.

“If you feel bad now, imagine what I’ve been going through all day,” she grumbled.

“Maybe I have a super, Kryptonian version of your cold,” he said with a pitiful cough.

“Maybe you’re just a big baby,” she muttered, setting the bottle on the table beside him. She realized the measuring cup was still in the cave’s infirmary. “Hang on,” she said.

Before she turned to leave, Wolf stood up from the floor and walked to Conner’s side. He sat down next to the couch, whimpered softly, and started licking Conner’s face.

“Where was this sympathy earlier?” M’gann asked incredulously. But Wolf didn’t turn away from Conner. She rolled her eyes at both of them and left the room.

Wolf was still comforting his master when M’gann returned with the cup, but the bottle of Sleepquil beside them was empty. M’gann’s eyes widened with surprise and concern as she turned to Conner.

“You took the whole thing?!” she asked.

Conner looked sheepishly from her to the bottle. “I’m Kryptonian, I guessed that a human dose wouldn’t be enough.”

“Based on what? Your extensive experience with cough syrup?” she asked sarcastically.

Conner looked at the bottle again, and M’gann thought she could see fear in his eyes. But he only shrugged. “At least my throat feels better,” he said.

“Lucky you,” M’gann scoffed. She sat down next to him – stepping over Wolf on the way – and pulled one of his blankets off to wrap around herself.  

They sat in silence as a rerun of another classic Earth show M’gann had grown up with began, and her annoyance quickly faded. She found herself sneaking glances at Conner as he lay beside her, his eyes closed, either asleep or resting peacefully as he listened to the television.

 While a day spent blowing her nose, coughing, and generally feeling miserable wasn’t her idea of a date, she had to admit it was nice spending time alone with Conner. Mount Justice often felt the way a college dorm looked to her on TV: a crowded, hectic place with no privacy at all.

After a few minutes, Conner sat up beside her, rubbing at his eyes and stretching out his back. M’gann felt relieved, at first, but thought he looked a little dazed. The unfocused way his gaze drifted around the room without seeming to take anything in made her even more concerned.

“Are you feeling any better?” she asked, resting a hand lightly on his shoulder. Conner’s gaze shifted slowly from her hand to her face, and his sleepy expression changed to lovesick admiration.

“Muhgann!” he said, his voice slurring. “Muhgann, it’ss so good tuh see yooo!”

Before she could pull away he lurched forward, his arms wrapping tightly around her shoulders in a bear hug. He wasn’t using his full strength, but his grip was tight enough to make M’gann squirm uncomfortably. 

“Yer soo pretty,” he mumbled, nuzzling his face against hers.

“I’m flattered,” she groaned, trying to pry his arms off her. “But I think that’s the Sleepquil talking, not you.”

“I’ve never even met Sleepquil,” he protested, shaking his head.

Conner’s grip relaxed and M’gann quickly ducked out of his arms. He leaned his head toward hers, his lips puckered for a kiss, but as he stretched his hand down to balance himself on the couch it missed the cushion. He teetered to the side before M’gann could grab him, bouncing his head against the table with a sharp _crack_.

“Ohmygosh!” she exclaimed, her hands rising to cover her mouth. “Conner, are you alright?”

“Sherr, whydaya ask?” he drawled sleepily, his head still resting against the table.

M’gann rolled his face to the side gently. There was no mark on Conner’s face, but a small dent in the table showed where he had collided with it. At least the cold didn’t seem to affect _his_ powers.

 “I think you should go sleep this off,” she said. She tugged the blankets aside and pulled Conner to his feet.

“I’m not eeven tired…” he yawned.

He started sagging against M’gann’s arms before he had even finished the sentence, falling asleep on his feet.  With her cold sapping her energy, M’gann realized she couldn’t hold him up for long, even with her Martian strength. Instead she eased him down onto the couch, grunting with the strain of supporting his limp, heavy frame.

She hooked her arms under Conner’s shoulders from behind, dragging him off the couch and across the floor in a crouch. Even with most of his weight on the ground, M’gann’s muscles ached from the strain of pulling him. Wolf cocked his head at her with a quizzical look in his eyes as they passed him.

“You have a better idea boy?” she grunted.

With Conner’s door left ajar, M’gann was able to push it open with her back. She was panting hard by the time she lifted Conner onto his bed, her telekinesis too weak to be much help.

Conner seemed oblivious to her struggle, rolling into a comfortable position on the bed and burying his face in his pillow.

“Five more minutes,” he muttered to himself.

“Take as long as you want,” M’gann sighed.

She turned to leave, but a rush of dizziness made her freeze in place, reaching back for Conner’s bed to brace herself. She lifted a hand to her throbbing forehead, feeling woozy and unsteady on her feet. Pulling him from the living room had taken more of her strength than she realized.

“Change of plan,” she mumbled, her voice raspy and weak. She prodded Conner’s head with her finger, drawing a sleepy grunt. “Make room,” she ordered. “I’m not going to make it back to the living room.”

Some part of Conner’s exhausted mind must have understood her command, because he rolled over, pressing his body against the wall beside his bed while his arm lolled out over her side.

She crawled in next to him, resting her head in the crook of his elbow and drawing the covers over both of them. Conner sighed happily in his sleep, and M’gann felt her eyelids growing heavy as she nodded off beside him.

**Author's Note:**

> I love feedback, good or bad, so if you made it this far please let me know what you thought!


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